Five to Watch

American League Post-Prospects

As a fantasy player, prospect junkie, and wannabe scout, nothing appeals to me more than evaluating young MLB talent and seeing how players’ skills translate into big-league results. This most often comes in the form of prospect evaluation, as we're always clamoring to find the next best thing, and to find that ultimate fantasy prospect whose flaws have not yet been exposed to the world.

Yet now that I've been doing this for a while, I find that it's often post-prospects—players who've recently lost their rookie eligibility—who yield the greatest rewards in fantasy leagues. Once a player struggles or is simply mortal in the majors, he tends to fall off of fantasy radars as we collectively look to the next best things. This is a mistake, and it ignores standard developmental curves, which is why post-prospects are such a great source of surplus fantasy value year after year.

With that in mind, let's take a look at five post-prospects in the AL who aren't receiving enough attention this preseason and who make better gambles than many of their prospect counterparts who still generate unrealistic expectations from owners in any league.

Also, these are just five players I've chosen to write about, and this is not a comprehensive list. If you un=ironically tell me in the comments that you're disappointed about an omission, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill your fantasy team.

Chris Archer, Rays
Archer is one of the more interesting post-prospect cases heading into 2013, as his 129-inning stint in the majors last year pretty much flies in the face of his scouting profile. Archer struck out just 101 batters during his time in the majors, yet he walked just 38 and posted a respectable WHIP of 1.13. That's not the Archer scouts and analysts thought we'd see in the majors, as historically Archer has struggled with command but fanned at least a batter per inning. That being said, whether Archer is a high-strikeout, high-WHIP guy or a low-strikeout, low-WHIP guy, he should have significant fantasy value next season. I'd still bank on him being the former, meaning you might take a slight hit in WHIP and ERA to roster him, but he'll make up for it through strikeouts and wins on what should be a very good Rays team. Matt Moore's struggles aside, this is an organization that knows how to develop pitching and I'd bet on Archer having a productive MLB career.

Oswaldo Arcia, Twins
It's possible that I've published by affection for Arcia on the Internet once or twice before, but I'm going to beat this dead horse until people listen. Lost amid the sea of high-profile prospects in the Twins system, few paid attention to Arcia's quietly productive rookie season in 2013. A .251/.304/.430 line isn't going to turn too many heads from an outfielder, but Arcia doesn't turn 23 until May and his 14 homers in 378 PA last season adequately demonstrate his power potential. Add in his strong minor-league track record of getting on base, and Arcia has the potential to serve as a four-category fantasy contributor for a long time. He might struggle against southpaws and he's going to strike out some, but a .265 average with 25 bombs is very much in reach here for 2014, and those numbers could both tick up over time. Arcia's aggregate ADP (courtesy FantasyPros.com) still sits at just 272.7, behind the likes of Marcell Ozuna, Ryan Ludwick, and Melky Cabrera. That's going to look foolish in a few months.

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Villar is someone I may be keeping at $10 (18 team mixed)and I'm not sure whether he's worth it. Yes, he'll steal bases, but batting 9th on Houston, he'll be below average in R and RBI, hurt you in BA, and contribute a small amount in HR. The SB are nice, but combine a lot of outs with a lot of errors, and there's no assurance he'll be able to hold onto the job. Any thoughts on this, Ben?

I do think he'll hold on to the job all year unless he's truly terrible, because there's little in the way of competition right now. You're right that Villar is useless in average and RBI, but I he could score 60-plus runs with 40 steals and 10 HR. He's a unique player and you'll need to compensate elsewhere for his deficiencies, but I don't think $10 is a crazy number for him in a league that deep. He could be a top-5 finisher in SB.

Couple of thoughts ... Jason Parks wrote a spring training piece last year praising Archer's swing and miss stuff - and postulated that Archer's minor league command stats were skewed by the Rays development methods incorporating Archer's new change up - and pitching backwards with it in order to get rotation ready for the show.

Good call on Zunino as a 2nd C in only leagues and I also like Arcia in mixed leagues as a #4 OF with his upside, youth & 1st MLB spring training under his belt.

I have an issue with Leonys Martin - he has been hyped off season
...but look under the hood ... I watched him play a lackadaisical CF this spring - and with the Rangers' pitching mess Ron Washington wont tolerate giving up outs - missing cut off men etc.
The aquisition of Michael Choice (see him play in person - makes Puig look small) is a huge threat to PT for Martin.
Expect Choice , who can go get it, to get 500 ABs for Texas this yr at the expense of both Moreland and Martin.

Lastly Villar ... His .935 fielding % for a team that will struggle to get outs is a potential red light. Villar turned a routine 3 hopper to SS today into a run for the Cards when he nonchalanted his throw to 1st and sailed it high E-6.

He is valuable as cheap speed and middle pop with an empemphasis on cheap.

Post hype sleeper: Tyler Skaggs LA Angels made a mechanical adjustment and now has David Price like velocity from the left side.
Could run up 13 to 15 wins for the Angels with 160 plus Ks.

Mike Moustakas. Interpolate what he did from August on last summer thru a red hot spring and in a decent lineup hitting behind Hosmer, Gordon, and Salvador Perez.